Assembly split over funds for irrigation projects

Members of the state Assembly were divided over funds for irrigation projects for Vidarbha, Marathwada and Western Maharashtra. Warring legislators stalled the proceedings four times on Tuesday following which Chief Minister, Ashok Chavan, assured them that money will be made available to their respective regions.

Members of the state Assembly were divided over funds for irrigation projects for Vidarbha, Marathwada and Western Maharashtra.

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Warring legislators stalled the proceedings four times on Tuesday following which Chief Minister, Ashok Chavan, assured them that money will be made available to their respective regions.

“The Planning Commission has not yet approved our plan. We will ask the Centre to give us more money before approving it,” Chavan told the Assembly.

The government will distribute this money as per the Governor’s directive.

The state budget has an outlay of more than Rs 8,000 crore for water resources [irrigation], which is the highest for any department.

The legislators alleged disparity in allocations to various regions with Western Maharashtra MLAs claiming most funds in the past 10 years were diverted to Vidarbha and Marathwada.

Despite spending so much on irrigation over the past 50 years, the state has been able to cover only 13 per cent of the cultivated area.